


The Dawn Will Come

by IrishBella



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Enchanted Forest AU, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 15:14:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15821505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrishBella/pseuds/IrishBella
Summary: Running a kingdom is not just about telling people what to do and keeping your coffers full. It's also protecting your kingdom-your family-from harms way, even when you don't know what's causing destruction throughout the land. A journey of warrior queens who will do whatever it takes to protect their kingdom and make it home safe to their family.





	The Dawn Will Come

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Drag-oon23](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Drag-oon23).



> Written for the lovely [work](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15797703) created by Drag-oon23
> 
> Thank you so much to the people who put together this wonderful Supernova each year. You are the real MVPs!  
> Thank you to everyone reading this, you're the best, Swen!! 
> 
>  
> 
> No beta, all mistakes are my own
> 
> Enjoy!

This was supposed to be an easy mission. In and out. Something even the reigning monarch could attend. Not that any of Regina’s guards were about to tell her she couldn’t come along on any quests. The only person who could talk some sense into her was her wife, Queen Emma, and she had to stay behind on this mission to stay with their newborn son. “You have just given birth,” Queen Regina had reminded her, as they lay in bed cradling their newborn son. “You need to stay and rest. I’ll only be gone a few nights. My sister will be here to help you with things.” Queen Emma had scoffed, never very fond of Queen Zelena of Walidor. But she’s Regina’s sister and closest confidant. She’s also had four babies, so maybe she could be useful, as long and they can keep their bickering to a minimum.

“Promise you’ll come right back?” Emma beseeches. Regina promised and sealed it with a kiss. She kissed their son, hugged her sister, and led her troops out of the kingdom.

She was wrong. She wasn’t back in three days. She knew her wife would be upset, but she had to find out what was able to destroy a castle and completely level an entire kingdom. She writes an apology letter every morning and sends it with her personal messenger when they return with angry and exhausted letters from her wife. Each letter begins with _My Love,_ and ends with _Eternally yours_ , yet it’s not enough. She wished she was with them, but she knows they’re safer at home, and she needs to find out what is terrorizing their land.

In the morning, she writes a letter to Emma and begins to dress for a day of traveling. While they’re only planning to travel on horseback, she dresses in her armor, just to be safe. She still doesn’t know what kind of creature is capable of leveling an entire kingdom. Maybe she’ll sit back down and write a letter to her sister and seek her opinion as well.

After she sends her letters with the messenger, she finishes dressing in her armor. They ride and find another leveled kingdom. The Kingdom of Cragary was a small kingdom, but they were always supportive of the two queens of Alasrenada. The rulers of Cragary even sent their best steel workers to create the most beautiful fireplaces within Emma and Regina’s castle when it was built as a symbol of unity between the now-combined kingdoms.

Regina is off her horse and sends a prayer to the Gods for protection on their quest and protection for the souls lost in the devastation. She checks her armor, grabs her sword, and moves slowly across the wreckage. “Your Majesty!” a voice calls. She turns her attention to her captain “It seems there’s a cave over here!”

She follows her captain and stands at the mouth of the cave. She walks in without a second thought. There’s no way anything would be hiding in these caves after destroying a kingdom, right?

Right.

The caves are empty. Regina walks to the center of the cave and sees a crack through the ceiling, allowing the smallest beam of light from the sun to shine in. She climbs over a log and pauses, one leg on the ground, one knee resting on the log. She sighs, looking down at her sword, there’s still no information on _what_ is causing all this destruction and she’s been away from her wife and son for far too long. But she can’t go back just yet, she needs to find and destroy whatever _thing_ is causing all this damage.

They continue to travel until nightfall. Regina knows they are near a friendly castle. The castle that held the first ball she and Emma attended as a royal couple. The beautiful castle in Vesirene where King Felipe and Queen Aurelia hosted a ball and invited the future queens of Alasrenada as a sign of respect and acknowledging their role as leaders of the combined kingdoms.

As they rode past, Regina saw a part of the woods where she and Emma snuck away from the party to have some alone time, and their very first escape adventure. They were able to sneak past the palace guards and into the gardens of the castle where they disappeared into the woods. Regina thinks back to that night with Emma with a smile.

_They’re going to get lost in this woods. Regina had told Emma not to go too far, that they needed to keep the castle lights in view so they didn’t get lost. Emma turned around, her blonde hair cascading out of her cape in princess curls. It was damp out, and they knew better than to ruin their gowns by trape_ _zing through the forest. She held up her hand for Regina to stop. She closed her mouth and Emma smiled, “We’re okay. I’ve been running these woods since I was only a few winters old. I know them almost as well as I know my home. We’ll be fine,” she promised, holding her hand for Regina to take. They continued further into the woods, further than Regina felt comfortable with, but with her hand in Emma’s they went deeper into the woods._

It’s one of Regina’s favorite memories with Emma. She always had a sense of adventure and encouraged Regina to leave her comfort zone for something new and exciting.

She and her troops continue to move closer to the castle and away from the spot where Emma and Regina snuck away from the ball to spend some alone time together. Regina sees the steps that led to the main balcony that she and Emma snuck up after their little adventure in the woods.

That’s where they stumbled up the steps and carefully hid their capes so no one would know they had left. Well, their attempts for all for naught since their little escapade led to them fooling around in the bushes and caught some mud on the bottom of their dresses. The looks their parents gave them left both women blushing and snickering together once they escaped back into the ball.

Regina sees the steps and smiles wistfully, wishing for simpler times where she and Emma were merely princesses, enthralled with each other and the idea of being together and sneaking away from their parents. Now,  _they_ were the leaders and times were tough. And there was something ripping their homeland apart.

She moves toward the castle - or at least where the castle used to be. Only a few guard towers remain. The rest of the kingdom is in ruins. The troops have been riding all day and were looking forward to resting in the castle. The ruins will have to do. They stop for the night, unloading their saddles and saddlebags and allowing the horses to graze in one of the pens that was not destroyed. The troops look around for survivors, but like the other ruins they’ve seen since they left, there’s nothing - and no one - left.

After they search, they meet back and set up a fire within the castle ruins. Regina stands over it, in most of her gear and sighs, they’re still no closer to answers and she’s still away from her wife and son.

Emma’s going to be so angry.

Another day. Another destroyed kingdom. Another angry letter from her wife. Another day of traveling only to find the same result. A castle in ruins, no survivors, no bodies, no idea what happened or what could have caused such destruction without notice.

On this night, Regina chooses to sit on the ground in front of her fire and re-read her most recent letter from her wife. Emma is worried about her safety. With Regina chasing something so dangerous, she just wants her home. Regina wants to go back to her wife and son more than anything, but she has a duty to her kingdom and her subjectsto protect them against whatever evil is currently wreaking havoc across the land.

She thinks back to the moment she left. She and Emma had said their goodbyes in their bedroom, Emma still recovering from birthing their son and unwilling to see her wife off to an unknown danger. Again.

But Emma surprised Regina by meeting her at the steps and begging her to be safe. She knew she couldn’t stop her wife from leaving, but she wanted to make sure she knew she needed to be safe. She had a family to come home to. And she needed to come home.

Emma had grabbed her face, right over her ears and pulled their foreheads together. She pushed thoughts of luck and safety and hoped her wife felt her love. She whispered for her to come back home, safely, and kissed her forehead before softly kissing her lips, “Please,” she had whispered. “Come back to us. You promised. We both made a promise to each other. And now to our son. Look at our rings and remember that, alright? Please,” she repeats again, a whisper brushing softly across Regina’s face. Regina had looked into her eyes and smiled, an empty promise on her lips. But she’s been a warrior for too long to think there are no dangers while in a soldier’s uniform.

Regina thinks back to that night as she stares into the flames of her fire, wondering what could possibly be causing this destruction, and when she’ll finally be able to go home again.

There’s movement behind her. Not enough for her to know what it was, but an inkling that there was _something_ behind her. She slowly looks down at her sword beside her. She feels someone watching her and the hairs stand up at the nape of her neck. What a terrible time to choose some alone time away from her troops.

She watches the fire and slowly wraps a hand around the top of her sword. The handle fitting perfectly into her the palm of her hand. There are bricks around her, creating the small seat she made for herself, and she thinks she’ll be able to use one of them to get attention of her soldiers if needed.

She quickly stands and faces her attacker, ready for a fight. “Emma?” she asks, confused as to why she sees her wife in her training armor in front of her instead of being at home with their infant son. The arm holding her sword sinks to her side when she realizes the threat is not real and sees her wife before her. Her wife, wearing her old training armor, standing directly in front of her, within the ruins of another building destroyed by whatever it is that is destroying their land. “Wha-” Regina cannot even begin to use words, still confused as to what her wife is doing here.

“Hi,” Emma says with an awkward wave and a small smile. Looking just the same as the first time they met after they were told they were betrothed to one another.

“What- what are you doing here? Where’s Henry?” Regina finally strings together words coherently.

Emma shrugs, “Henry is fine. He is with your sister and Kathryn. Everyone has taken refuge in our home. Kathryn’s castle was destroyed; only the royal family, the staff, a few soldiers and some townsfolk were able to escape. Somehow they survived the attack. When she arrived, Zelena rushed home to check on her husband and children and found that they were preparing for an attack. She convinced them to run and they were able to all leave the kingdom safely and are staying in our kingdom until we know what’s causing these massacres. Some of the outlying townspeople from the neighboring kingdoms were spared from the destruction and have made their way to nearby kingdoms. Somehow we’ve become a refuge. I wrote to my parents and found out they have been spared but they have also had an influx of refugees into their kingdom. Your parents left their castle and are staying with us as well. Everyone is safe. Except you,” she finishes with a pointed stare.

“But...why are you here?” she asks, trying to wrap her head around all the information said. There _have_ been survivors. Everyone has moved to their kingdom for protection and she and her best soldiers have been galavanting throughout the lands in search of a creature when they should be at home, protecting their loved ones.

“You were taking too long and I needed to make sure you were okay.” She says this simply, as if there was a calm explanation for rushing into danger. That was Regina’s thing.

“We have a messenger! You shouldn’t be out here!” Regina shouts.

“Neither should you,” Emma says with ice in her eyes. The look gives Regina pause, _she’s_ the one with the temper. Emma’s sunshine and butterflies and at peace _all the time_. This hardly ever happens, and Regina does _not_ like the look Emma is giving her right now. She gulps as Emma continues, “This is no longer an easy mission. This has turned into something much more dangerous than an adventure,” she spits the word, angrier than Regina has witnessed in a while, “and the queen of the kingdom should _not_ be out here trapezing across the land looking for some _thing_ that can level an entire kingdom in its path. You need to come home. Now, Regina.”

There’s no room for argument. And Regina knows exactly what Emma’s saying. Her shoulders drop. She’s right. Regina shouldn’t be in such a dangerous place. Yes, she’s a phenomenal soldier, and her troops enjoy when their queen fights alongside them, but this is not a normal fight to protect their kingdom. This is some kind of _demon_ attacking the lands around them, and they need to stop hunting it, and go back to protect their own home. Regina looks down at her boots, “Alright, dear.”

But they do not head home.

There’s a screech unlike any noise either woman has ever heard in their lifetime. It sends chills up their backs and something akin to fear sinks in their stomachs. They immediately move to stand side-by-side. They will face whatever this is together, like they do everything else.

The reigning monarchs move to where the troops have all assembled into a semi-circle, looking for the threat. They see Emma and make to bow before their queens but Regina brushes them away with a wave of her hand, “What do we know?” she whispers to her captain.

“Not much, ma’am,” he says, checking in all direction, “the noise seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.”

There it is again. That god awful scream. It’s one of those sounds that makes you nauseous and faint at the same time. It wraps around your spine and closes around your throat. And then they saw it. A creature of legend. Something that parents tell their children about to make sure they don’t run off into the night.

“An Aigrock,” Emma whispers, hearing the stories when she was a child. “I thought it was a myth.”

It growls again, it’s head spouting fire as it swings one of its massive claws. “Dammit!” Regina shouts, jumping out of the way and taking Emma with her.

“What the hell was that?!” her captain yells, grabbing a sword and a shield.

“It’s an Aigrock!” another soldier shouts.

“No way! Those are fairy tales,” another adds.

There is a discourse among the soldiers, all discussing if this creature is real or not.

“Enough!” Regina shouts. She uses her commanding voice, every bit the authority figure she’s supposed to be. “Grab your shields and stand together, men! This creature maybe a myth but its claws are real. Take a swing if you can but protect yourselves!”

The fight is short. But when they finally think they are pushing the beast away, it wraps its thick veins around Regina, like branches from a tree, pulling her into the air. Her hands hold up the giant claw attempting to crush her. The black veins wrap around her, stretching her and attempting to pull her apart.

The monster is using its veins to separate the group, putting itself between the warriors and their queens. Emma watches as her wife is pulled further into the air and has had enough. “I did _not_ come all this way to watch her die,” she mutters to herself as she takes a few steps back, resituating her sword and shield in her hands. She bounces once on the balls of her feet before she charges at the Aigrock and leaps into the air, slashing her sword through the air and severing the veins squeezing her wife. Regina falls to ground and when Emma lands, she ignores the reeling monster as it moves away, and rushes over to help Regina push off the remaining veins and help her to her feet.

“What the hell was that?” Regina asks.

“An Aigrock. A creature of legend. I’ve never thought they were more than just a bedtime story,” Emma answers. “Did you not have those stories growing up?”

Regina shakes her head, “My mother never told me about an monsters that didn’t exist. Her horror stories were real.” She thinks back to when her mother told her about growing up as a miller’s daughter and the horrors she was exposed to. There were no mythical creatures to haunt you from the darkness. The real monsters were the ones that smile to your face but tried to rip out your throat when they had the chance. Court life was ruthless, but it was particularly violent for a commoner married to the future king.

Emma steps forward and places a hand on Regina’s arm, knowing her childhood was rough, rougher than her own. “Well, there were some crazy rumors about the Aigrock in our kingdom. Some people said it was taller than an ogre. Some said it had razor claws and breath fire.”

“Those were true,” Regina mutters.

“For the most part,” Emma agrees. “But there were some crazier rumors too. Like, some said it had the head of a bird, or some claimed it was shaped like a bear. Others insisted it was the size of an ogre with the head of a dragon. Some of the rumors alleged that they would eat their own children to survive. Others said that while its eyes burned fire, its heart was made of ice and others claimed it would sneak to the outskirts of the village and steal their livestock. And some even claimed that the spirit of the beast could leave its body and fight on its own. That is can take any shape it wants.”

Regina laughed, “That’s quite the story.”

“I used to love when the villagers would talk about the Aigrock. They even put on plays in the city square.” She looks like a child, retelling her favorite story.

“Of course you did,” Regina says with a smile before she turns her attention to her troops, “Where did it go?”

“We’re not sure, Your Majesty,” her lieutenant answered.

“What?” Regina asks, unable to comprehend, “How do you lose a giant creature like that?” There’s no answer. She sighs and looks around, only to see a red light hurtling toward them. “Watch out!” she shouts as the light takes form. The light becomes an Executioner.

“The Red Killer,” someone whispers from behind Regina.

“The what?” she asks, but before there can be an answer, the Light swings and knocks half of the army backwards 30 feet. It swings again and knocks the other half of the troops in the other direction 30 feet. Regina jumps toward Emma, pushing her behind a boulder. Although she’s not so lucky, the Light swings at Regina and knocks her in the head. She falls to her knees, unable to stand just yet. Her ears are ringing and she can’t find her center of balance.

She shakes her head and tries to stand. It takes a couple tries, but she shakily gets to her feet and turns to see an Executioner made of light. _What the hell?_ She tries to defend herself. She grabs her sword but knows it won’t be enough, not against his axe. She dodges his swing and rolls away, reaching for a shield just in time to stop his next swing. Thankfully, the shield holds and she can move away, prepared to be on the defense once again.

They continue this dance, the Executioner attacking, and Regina evading his swings. She can’t seem to land any hits, but his feels like rocks every time he meets his mark. Regina thankfully has her best armor on and that takes some of the force out of the hits. She’s knocked around like a piñata as the Executioner repeatedly tries to knock her out. One of his hits lands behind her ears. Thankfully, it wasn’t his axe, it was his fist. She falls to the ground.

She groans. Her head is spinning. Not again. She’s been hit in the head before but it’s never been like this. Everything is blurry, moving at a snail’s pace, almost bleary. She can’t see anything, but she tries to move toward where she thinks she pushed Emma. There’s something red, almost like the sunset moving behind her. She crawls forward. Away from the energy she feels pulsing behind her. And toward where she thinks her wife is.

Emma sees the Executioner lift his axe, reading to swing at her wife’s head.

No.

She doesn’t need to be taken care of. She can hold her own in a fight. She’s not as great of a fighter as Regina, but she trains with the soldiers when she can (at least before she and Regina learned they were expecting), She grabs the nearest shield and sword and rushes toward the Executioner. There’s no way this thing is hurting her wife. Not now. Not ever.

She and Regina both need to make it through this. They have Henry now. They have a kingdom to run. They have games to play, meals to eat, and sunrises to watch.

So many sunrises.

“REGINAAAAAAAAAA,” she screams as she charges at the Executioner. She begins to fight him with all the strength her body had to offer.

It wasn’t enough.

Her heart sinks. The Executioner barely blinks at the force she exerts when she hits it. She bounces off of it as if she were nothing but a fly to him. He turns toward her for a moment and all she can think is about her wife, still disoriented opposite of her, and her son. Her beautiful baby that might not get to meet his mothers. _Oh god_ , she thinks, _please don’t let Zelena raise him._

Emma can’t explain how grateful she is when she sees the troops coming to. They see their queens in trouble and jump into action. Thankfully it’s enough. For now. The Executioner disappears in a flash of red light. Emma feels a sense of relief so deep, words cannot explain. She slumps against the ground and waits a moment, gathers herself, before releasing a sigh and asking, “Regina?”

“Emma?” Regina answers quietly.

Emma smiles, “Here, my honey,” she says as she watches Regina slowly move toward her.

“Don’t call me that,” Regina grumbles as she stumbles across Emma’s hand. When Emma squeezes her hand, Regina collapses into her. “Is it gone?”

“For now,” she answers, wrapping an arm around Regina. “How’s your head?” she asks as she watches their guards skitter nervously around them, unsure what to do with their queens on the ground.

“Hurts,” Regina complains with a pout.

Emma smirks and kisses Regina’s forehead. She likes that she can take care of Regina, if only for a minute. Her wife is always so strong and never wants any fussing; ever the caregiver. “Can you see?”

Regina sighs, “It’s a little blurry, but I’ll be fine in a minute or two.”

“I’m not sure we have that long. The troops look very uncertain on the other side of the ruins, Cap will only be able to hold them off for so long.”

The brunette groans, “Just a minute,” she begs.

Emma brushes the brunettes hair from her face and nods, “You got it, honey.” She laughs as Regina grumbles about the nickname again and holds up two fingers. The captain of the guard nods and turns back to the troops, ushering them out of sight of their queens.

They’re only given their two minutes before their captain enters once again and says, “It’s back.”

The women groan but before Regina can get up, Emma grabs her face, palms resting against her ears, “Are you okay?” she whispers softly.

“Of course I’m okay,” Regina says as she tries to pull away. She sighs when Emma’s grip only tightens against her head, “I will be okay. We need to protect our people.” Emma looks like she’s about to argue so she throws her trump card, “We need to get back to our home, to our son.”

“Cheat,” Emma says with narrowed eyes.

Regina smirks and pulls her head away from Emma’s hands and kisses her palms, “We need to go home.”

“Oh Gods,” Emma says with wide eyes. “Your sister is caring for our son and our kingdom.”

“You left Zelena in charge?” Regina asks dubiously. Her sister is a very competent ruler, but she and Emma have never seen eye to eye. And even if Zelena is a capable queen, she’s still wild and likes to cause trouble whenever she can - which usually occurs around Emma.

“She was the only one awake when I left. And I trusted Henry in her care.” She looks at Regina, “Motherhood has made me soft.”

“Hopefully not too soft,” Regina says with a laugh as she stands and helps Emma to her feet.

“Ready?” Emma asks, arming herself with her sword and shield.

Regina nods, checking her armor, shield, and weapon. “Let’s finish this.”

They charge toward their troops, who have already begun fighting the Aigrock. It’s attacks are ruthless, knocking the troops back by the dozens. The wings stretching wide, it’s claws retracting and extending as if it hasn’t had a good fight in ages. It releases a screech so loud it makes everyone's hair stand on end. Shivers runs up their backs. They square their shoulders and point their weapons.

The Aigrock throws its head back, screaming once again, this time with a plume of fire soaring high above its head. Smoke follows as it lowers its fire-filled head and reaches for the queens.

Regina charges, hoping to land her Halberd between its branch-like ribs. The creature notices her and brushes her aside, throwing her back against the only remaining wall in the castle. She crumples to the ground, accenting her pain.

Smoke flies out of the beast’s wings as Emma sees red. She does not know Regina is not severely hurt. She only sees her wife, beaten on the floor. Again. She points her sword at the beast, knowing she has its complete attention as she is the only one still standing. “You will _not_ take away my family or my kingdom. This will be your last battle,” she promises through gritted teeth.

She watches as the beast before her drops to its knees, revealing not only a head containing the mysterious flames they were able to see, but it’s the head of a gigantic bird. The Aigrock had been so tall, and his body so angled, no one could see anything other than flames shooting from the top of its body. Emma sees its armor-covered head all the way down to its armor-covered beak. _Well, that was not what I was expecting._

“Sorry to ruin your moment, my love,” Regina says, brushing off her hands on her armor, “but I wasn’t going to let this thing cause anymore destruction.” She grins as Emma stares dumbfounded.

“You just-” Emma starts.

A moment passes and Regina just laughs, “I did.” They look to the beast as its breathing becomes heavier. The flames from its head dim before exploding in a flash so hot and bright, Emma feels her hair singe. Thankfully Regina was quick to see what was happening and jumped over Emma. They both fall to the ground but remain mostly unharmed (aside from the slightly singed hair). “Are you alright?” Regina says, helping her wife to her feet.

Emma nods, “You?”

Regina nods, “Yes.”

“Good, because I am very cross with you right now,” Emma says with narrowed eyes.

Regina releases a chuckle, her whole chest moving with the snort. “Be cross later. I’m just happy we both survived.”

Emma softens and her eyes fill with tears, “I was so scared,” she whispers.

“I know,” Regina whispers back, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Emma’s waist, pulling her tight against her. Emma breaks, burying her head in Regina’s neck. “We’re okay,” Regina whispers, clutching Emma tighter and she wraps her arms around Regina's shoulders. Regina brings her hands up and starts rubbing Emma’s shoulders, “We’re okay. We’re safe. We’re going home.” She continues to repeat this over and over as she waits for Emma’s shaking to subside.

Eventually, Emma’s face raises from Regina’s neck and she looks up toward the rising sun. she releases a sigh, “Thank the Gods we’re okay.” She rests her cheek against Regina’s and sighs again, blinking away her tears.

Regina rubs her hands up and down Emma’s back, waiting until she’s ready to release the hug.

“Ma’ams,” their captain says, finally upright again from the beast.

The wives step apart, keeping their hands intertwined.

The captain bows and Regina nods, turning her attention to the beast on the ground, “Gather the troops. We’ll head out shortly. I will take some of our troops back to the castle, and you will take the rest to search for survivors in the surrounding kingdoms. Hopefully, we will find survivors and even entire kingdoms unharmed by this beast.”

The captain nods but looks unsure.

Regina sighs, “What is it?” she asks, unsure if she can handle any more stress today.

“Well...um...it seems...ma’am...that um…”

“Spit it out, Cap,” Emma says impatiently.

“The troops are sure they heard another scream like we heard earlier, coming from the caves up yonder,” the captain says, pointing to the hills nearby.

Emma groans and looks at Regina, “If we tell them no, will they leave it alone?”

Regina shakes her head, “Would you?”

“No,” Emma says sullenly, with a shake of her head. She takes a deep breath and rolls her shoulders back, “Alright, let’s figure out where that noise is coming from.”

“Ummmm, my queens?” the captain says with a quivering voice. They turn their attention to the head of their guard. Their attention slowly moves to the lifeless creature. Or at least it was lifeless just a minute ago. The eerie light that created the Executioner is now swirling around the bird-like head of the Aigrock. Emma’s hand tightens around Regina’s as they watch the light spin faster and faster around the beast until it shoots straight up in the air and disappears into the trees.

“After it,” Regina says as she takes off at a sprint, with Emma right beside her.

They chase the light as it zigzags back and forth between the trees until it’s at the top of the hills and next to the caves. It shoots in one and disappears into darkness. Emma charges in after it, without a second thought, and Regina groans as she chases after her wife. They head into the cave without any light and are thankful when some of their troops follow them with torches. Carefully, they move further into the cave, only stopping to look for the faint red light, bobbing in the distance.

“Oh my Gods,” Emma whispers when they move in the chamber at the center of the cave. “It’s a-”

“It’s a...baby Aigrock?” Regina guesses, unsure of what was lying on the ground in front of them.

There’s that red light from earlier, floating around the outside of the chamber before moving close and surround the tiny beast before floating back to the outskirts of the chamber. Emma moves forward without a thought.

“Emma no,” Regina whispers, attempting to grab her wife’s wrist. But Emma is quicker and makes it to the middle of the room. The red light follows her closely, attempting to get her away from the baby beast. Emma knows that the light is entirely harmless at this point and completely ignores it to get a better look at the baby.

“It’s not an Aigrock,” she whispers in awe.

“What?” Regina asks, confused. “Then what is it?”

“I have no idea,” Emma says, staring down at the wrinkly thing in front of her. “Hi there, beastie,” she coos as she moves closer. The beast makes a tiny chirping noise, startling all in the cavern. “Oh my god that is officially the cutest sound an animal can make,” Emma declares. She turns her attention to Regina and even in the semi-darkness, Regina sees the pleading in her eyes.

Regina scoffs, “We are not taking it home Emma, so get that idea out of your head this instant.”

“But Gi, it’s so cute!” Emma argues.

“And it will become a giant Aigrock and destroy things like its parent we just had to obliterate,” Regina counters.

“No! We’ll train it to be better!” Emma promises.

“No Emma, it’s too dangerous to have around.”

Emma groans but turns her attention to the baby in front of her. “She’s just a spoilsport, she’ll come around,” she proclaims quietly. She carefully picks up the baby beast and-

“Emma put that thing down! It’s dangerous!”

“It’s a baby, Regina,” Emma scoffs. “Just a tiny little critter. Oh my,” she says, turning her attention to the beast in her arms, “You sure are a cutie!”

“Emma,” Regina warns.

“We’re taking it, Regina. And that’s final.”

Regina scoffs, “We’re not letting that thing anywhere _near_ our kingdom or our family. And _that’s_ final,” she counters.

Emma looks at her with narrowed eyes before looking at the baby beast who has decided to fit its entire tail in its mouth. She turns with pleading eyes, knowing Regina can’t resist, “Please? We can’t just leave it here, it will die. And it will be all alone. Come on, honey, please?”

“Don’t call me that,” Regina grumbles.

“So, we can keep it?” Emma asks, eyes alight with elation.

Regina sighs, “We can keep it. For now," she adds. "But if it does anything, and I mean _anything_ , remotely dangerous, it’s gone. Understood?”

Emma nods and stands with the creature in her arms. She rushes over and kisses her wife soundly. “Thank you!” she shouts and takes off toward the entrance of the cave.

“Be careful!” Regina shouts, her words echoing off the walls as she hopes her clumsy wife doesn’t drop the damned beast she just allowed to come into her home. “Motherhood is making us soft,” she grumbles as she, too, heads for the entrance.

Her captain of the guard laughs beside her, but otherwise remains silent as they all leave the caves and return to their horses.

It’s a long ride, but Regina, Emma, and some of their troops return to their castle with the lizard-beast wrapped in Emma’s cloak. Emma had carried it for most of the trip, except when she grew so weary that she almost fell off her horse. That’s when Regina claimed she needed a break and coaxed Emma to ride with her and rest. Regina then held the creature who immediately crawled inside her riding cloak and fell asleep. _Don’t get attached_ she reminded herself. _It is a beast and will destroy everyone around it, just like its parent_. But looking at that sweet little innocent face, unbridled by fear in its sleep. It’s too much and Regina feels her resolve slipping. _I can’t wait to get home_ , she thinks as she sighs and watches the hills in front of them, leading them home. Her sleeping wife against her; even with this tiny creature in her arms, she feels a sense of relief she hasn’t felt since she started this dreadful expedition.

***5 years later***

“Henry get down from there this instant!” Regina shouts at her son as he climbs even higher up a tree.

Emma is lounging against a tree trunk, hidden from the blistering sun and watching bemused, “Pick your battles, my queen.”

Regina huffs, “He’s going to fall.” The fear in her eyes must shine bright as Emma stands and moves toward Henry. Regina smiles at the two loves of her life, a slight bit of trepidation as she waits for her son to be at a more reasonable distance from the ground. She gasps when she sees Emma climb the tree with their son and growls, “You’re both going to knock your heads against the ground when you fall!”

“We won’t fall, Mama!” Henry calls, climbing higher into the tree.

A shriek is heard, loud enough for the hair on Regina’s arms to stand on end. A bray follows, sounding noticeably closer.

The ground begins to shake. Regina sighs and steps out from under the tree to prevent any apples from falling on her head. She looks up to see Henry squeal in delight, clapping his tiny hands in front of him and bouncing up and down on the branch he is bracing himself against. Regina sees Emma’s hands holding Henry in place so he doesn’t fall to the ground and she can breathe, for now.

A snarl is heard and Regina pinches the bridge of her nose, _that damned creature is set to break everything in this kingdom, starting with my sanity_. She watches as he rushes over the hill, fearsome teeth gleaming in the sunlight. He comes to a screeching halt in front of the tree Henry and Emma are waiting in. Regina hears a melodic laugh come from her son and can’t help the smile that stretches across her face. She’d do anything to continue hearing that sound, even keep that beast around the kingdom like she has. She watches as the beast takes another step toward the tree, much slower this time. He lowers his head and releases a grunt and rumbles deep in his chest when Henry laughs louder.

“Silly Kliwot,” he shouts. He takes a step toward the beast, and then another. And then, on his next step, he misses the branch. Regina can only watch in horror as her son falls from the tree. She barely has time to gasp when the beast drops his head and catches Henry between the horns on his head. Henry is up before Regina can blink, “Mama did you see?! Kliwot saved me!”

“I see, my sweeting,” Regina says when she can breathe again. “But we mustn’t climb so high that Kliwot has to save us, right? That’s far too dangerous. And Kliwot is not meant to be ridden; that’s what we have horses for,” she reasons.

Henry scoffs, “No horse is faster than Kliwot, Mama. He da fastest beastie in da whole kingdom.”

“He better be the only beastie,” Regina mumbles under her breath.

Emma drops down from the tree and laughs as her wife jumps, “It’s alright, my queen. Let him have his fun. The tutors told me he had a wonderful lesson today and didn’t try to leave once.”

“A trait he gets from me no doubt,” Regina says with a smirk.

Emma rolls her eyes but takes her wife’s hand, smiling when Regina squeezes it as they watch their son and their giant beast play. He’s a creature of legend, much like his slain adoptive parent. They quickly realized they did not have another Aigrock on their hands, but rather an entirely different beast. The queens went to every witch and warlock in their kingdom before meeting a weary traveler while returning from the final warlock’s cottage. The traveler immediately noticed the beast in Emma’s lap and gasped, “Kliwot.” Both women immediately stopped their horses and absorbed all the information the traveler had on this unknown creature. From there, they begin their research: Regina in her books within their expansive library, and Emma, by approaching the townsfolk (in disguise of course) and asking about legends surrounding the Kliwot.

There’s not much information on the elusive creature but they learned that the it ran on two legs since it’s much smaller arms were used as propulsion and as it’s final move, to kill its prey. They decided to keep the creature, but train it and hope it didn’t turn against the people of the kingdom. Both women were terrified that they wouldn’t have it in them to kill the creature they helped raise.

Thankfully, that never happened. Everyone quickly learned how smart the little Kliwot was, and watched as it quickly went from tiny and adorable to a fearsome creature with teeth sharp enough to snap any object in its way. But the tough-looking exterior showed no one the sweet and kind soul resting inside. Their little beastie loved to sleep in front of the fireplace and _loved_ to have its head and the tip of his nose scratched.

They also learned that Kliwot made an incredibly smart pupil. In the mornings, when he would be released to play on the grounds, he spent most of his time surrounding the knights, and _loved_ when his moms would visit to watch their warriors train. He even started putting on shows of his own, showing off his best assets. He showed them that he could bellow and whistle out of his nose and had learned how to kick out without falling over (after a _lot_ of practice). He could even grasp a jousting pole in his tiny arms and charge across the field.

No one ever meant for their mythical creature to ever become one of their best warriors; in fact that was the biggest worry Regina had when they first brought him home. Yet, he quickly worked his way through his personalized training and became their strongest and most fearsome warrior. Across the land, it was known that the Kingdom of Alasrenada had a beast so formidable, so terrifying, no one had challenged their rule in years. While war ravaged the land, Alasrenada and its neighbors were safe. For now.

Regina watches her son roll around the head of their not-so-little beastie and smiles, her heart happier than she ever could have imagined.

The moment is short-lived.

A horn sounds from somewhere over the hills. They know that sound, but it hasn’t been heard in years. Young Henry doesn’t even know what exactly it means. The last time he heard that sound, it was an accident but he ended up sitting in the basement with Granny - their cook - and a few other trusted household staff and guards. He had to stay in there for _hours_. He grows nervous when his faithful beastie freezes and stands up straight. Henry sighs, knowing Kliwot no longer can play. He’s in warrior mode now. Henry sighs, but slides down Kliwot’s neck until his feet are safely back on the ground. He rushes to his mothers and buries his face in Regina’s stomach, “Mama?” he asks quietly.

Regina places a hand on the back of his head, “It’s time to go back inside now, my darling.” He sighs but takes her outstretched hand as they begin their trek back to the castle.

“Kli,” Emma shouts, “Armor. Now,” she commands. The ground shakes as the beast jumps up and begins running toward the armory.

Regina gets Henry back inside and to Granny, who is standing in the doorway. The women share a tense smile before Granny shoos the queen back outside with a promise of, “He’ll be safe here, ma’am.” Regina nods and turns on her heel, moving to saddle up her horse.

She gets both hers and Emma’s horses saddled and ready by the time Emma makes it to the stable, laden with armor and weapons for both of them. “Next time, I saddle the horses and _you_ can carry the weapons from the armory,” she grumbles as she sets everything down in the stable. Regina merely laughs at her wife and begins strapping her weapons and armor into place.

There’s a rumble outside and both women move their horses out of the stable and into the bright sunlight to see their Kliwot armed and ready for battle. They don’t know what (or who) they’re facing, but together, they’ll win and keep their kingdom safe.

They wait there until the rest of their warriors arrive. The troops and their queens set out to the edge of the kingdom, where a messenger said a clan from Vaekya is approaching, with their battle flags flying high. No one here is worried, with their queens leading the way along with their monstrous pet, the Vaekya stand no chance. No one could ever hold a candle to the warriors of Alasrenada.

It’s a much longer battle than anyone expected. It began at dusk and did not end until the wee hours of the morning. Everyone, exhausted beyond belief, begins their journey back to the castle where they will be treated to warm baths and enough food to fill their bellies tenfold.

The queens hang back as their troops ready the horses for the return trip. Regina still has her sword, quite the feat when you realize how many times she lost control of it while ripping someone apart. Emma has her trusty shield, that has so far kept her safe in every battle she’s been in. And Kliwot? He’s exhausted and cannot wait to curl up next to the fire with his favorite tiny human, as he reads his new favorite book.

Emma and Regina share a smile and both begin scratching the tip of Kliwot’s nose, they coo softly to him, both proud of their beastie. He enjoys the attention but he is _not_ looking forward to walking all the way back to the castle, it’s a long way and he’s tired. Regina bribes him and he follows the horses as they trek back home.

They watch the sun rise above the trees, slowly changing the sky from black to blue, to pink, to orange, before settling high in the sky.

As always, the dawn will come.


End file.
